Is There a Cure for Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia means, when literally translated from the Greek root words, "split mind." This translation often leads many people to confuse schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder. People who have multiple personality disorder suffer from having a variety of unique identities trying to share the same body. People who suffer from schizophrenia on the other hand have hallucinations and delusions that most often manifest themselves outside the schizophrenic's body and appear only, obviously, to the schizophrenic. These hallucinations and delusions can be in a number of forms. They can consist of a person hearing voices that have no physical source, feelings of paranoia and seeing things that other people cannot see. There are a number of manifestations of the disease, which makes it incredibly hard to diagnose.

Is there a cure for schizophrenia?

Unfortunately there is no cure for schizophrenia yet. The illness can be managed and the level of management is contingent upon the severity of the disease. Typically the disease is treated with two approaches: medication and therapy.

There reason there is no cure for schizophrenia is that the disease is incredibly difficult to diagnose. It does not seem to have a central cause, but is a combination of many causes that include the chemistry of the brain, genetics and possibly environmental factors. The disease's symptoms are often mistaken for symptoms of other diseases like depression or bipolar disorder.

Medication is the primary form of treatment. Typically the drugs used to treat schizophrenia are anti-psychotic drugs like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa. The drugs must be taken for at least a month before a doctor can determine if they are having any effect on the disease. If they are not helping to diminish the symptoms of schizophrenia, other drugs like antidepressants or mood stabilizers or even Clozapine might be prescribed. Clozapine is very controversial because it is an atypical drug and it comes with the potential of some dangerous side effects.

The supplemental form of treatment includes psychotherapy of some kind. This can be work that is done with an individual therapist or group therapy. Sometimes this is done in conjunction with vocational and skills rehabilitation. The sad truth is that after being diagnosed with schizophrenia, it is rare that the schizophrenic will return to his or her original routine. The person must often re-learn how to function. Often the help of family and friends is needed to keep the affected person going to his or her therapy appointments and to make sure that he or she stays on the medication that has been prescribed.

Diagnosing a person with schizophrenia is a long and complicated process. Often the disease is misdiagnosed as any number of other mental illnesses. Once the diagnosis has been made, the first question most people ask is "is there a cure for schizophrenia?" After all, this is a hard disease to deal with as it could manifest itself in any number of ways. And while scientists are working very hard to create one, unfortunately one does not yet exi

Signs of Schizophrenia Tip #1

Schizophrenia is not the same thing as having multiple personality disorder. In multiple personality disorder a person has a number of independent identities that all share one host body. Typically one of the personalities is dominant and the others exist under the surface. With Schizophrenia, there could be independent personalities but the person suffering from the disease believes that these identities exist outside of him or herself.

Signs of Schizophrenia Tip #2

There are different types of schizophrenia. The most widely known is that of paranoid schizophrenia in which the schizophrenic believes that there are people who are out to "get" him (or her). Commonly the patient associates himself with an elite group and believes that it is his membership with that group that has made him a target of others.

Signs of Schizophrenia Tip #3

Schizophrenia is normally treated with anti-psychotic drugs. There are new drugs being developed all the time. Other treatments include Electro Convulsive Therapy in which the patient is driven to convulsions by receiving a series of shocks to the brain. This treatment is thought to fix the electrochemical balance of the brain.